Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Needing to Start Ignoring the Distracting Things of Life
Lately, my writing has suffered.
Forty to sixty percent of this has been my fault. I keep getting wrapped up in the glorious entertainment the world has to offer. And by this, I mean the latest Prince of Persia for Xbox 360, and the Settlers of Catan expansion: Knights and Cities. These games--along with my art habits--are keeping me from doing what I should be doing: writing. What's weird is that I enjoy my writing as much as playing either of those games, yet I keep ignoring it. I blame this on the other 40 to 60 percent of why my writing has suffered.
This stems from the novel itself. It keeps causing problems for me. So far, the problems have been solvable, but they've been speed bumps, if not outright stop signs, in my progress. Little issues pop up, wave me do, and ask me "Excuse me, sir, do you know what the hell you're doing?" Often I can say, "I think so." But lately, it's been, "Let me get back to you on that..."
I'm getting back to them, and should soon have my thesis done. Away I go. Gibberish tomorrow.
Forty to sixty percent of this has been my fault. I keep getting wrapped up in the glorious entertainment the world has to offer. And by this, I mean the latest Prince of Persia for Xbox 360, and the Settlers of Catan expansion: Knights and Cities. These games--along with my art habits--are keeping me from doing what I should be doing: writing. What's weird is that I enjoy my writing as much as playing either of those games, yet I keep ignoring it. I blame this on the other 40 to 60 percent of why my writing has suffered.
This stems from the novel itself. It keeps causing problems for me. So far, the problems have been solvable, but they've been speed bumps, if not outright stop signs, in my progress. Little issues pop up, wave me do, and ask me "Excuse me, sir, do you know what the hell you're doing?" Often I can say, "I think so." But lately, it's been, "Let me get back to you on that..."
I'm getting back to them, and should soon have my thesis done. Away I go. Gibberish tomorrow.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Not Including the Idea of Sleeping...
The only thing that has me excited is this.
I've been waiting for this trailer for years. Years, I say. I remember finding out about this film not long after Spike Jonze finished Adaptation, and from the looks of things, it might just be worth the wait.
Granted, I've never been a devoted fan to the book. I've always enjoyed the art, and the story is fun enough, but I didn't grow up on it. I never read the thing until I was in my teens, so maybe I'm not as emotionally attached to the story as some will be. However, from what I can see, Jonze and David Eggers have taken the simple idea of a boy escaping his punishment and turned it into a coming of age story. I think it's brilliant. What better way to have a child cope with life than by creating his own world?
I have a feeling that this isn't quite going to be the mainstream hit that many will want it to be--especially the studio--but I think it will be one of the better, and I'll go ahead and sound like a sap, and heartwarming films of the year. (The biggest downfall is that it will probably be paced too slow for a family audience.) As much as I want it to come out, I can wait these few extra months. As I said, I've already waited years for just the trailer.
I've been waiting for this trailer for years. Years, I say. I remember finding out about this film not long after Spike Jonze finished Adaptation, and from the looks of things, it might just be worth the wait.
Granted, I've never been a devoted fan to the book. I've always enjoyed the art, and the story is fun enough, but I didn't grow up on it. I never read the thing until I was in my teens, so maybe I'm not as emotionally attached to the story as some will be. However, from what I can see, Jonze and David Eggers have taken the simple idea of a boy escaping his punishment and turned it into a coming of age story. I think it's brilliant. What better way to have a child cope with life than by creating his own world?
I have a feeling that this isn't quite going to be the mainstream hit that many will want it to be--especially the studio--but I think it will be one of the better, and I'll go ahead and sound like a sap, and heartwarming films of the year. (The biggest downfall is that it will probably be paced too slow for a family audience.) As much as I want it to come out, I can wait these few extra months. As I said, I've already waited years for just the trailer.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
On to Regular Everyday Life...
I get bored everyday at work, mutha fucka! (If you don't understand this joke, please click here. Take heed that there will be ample cursing.)
I'm back to the grind, and really not wanting to be here. Over my extended weekend, I killed tons of zombies and watched a good chunk of films, and I want to just keep doing the same things. *sigh* Stupid responsibilities.
Resident Evil 5: My friend and I finished this game last night, and it was quite a good time. As I mentioned on Monday, it's not quite the same as its predecessors, but it is still an amusing game. However, the reason I bring this up again is because of it's controversy about being racist.
All things considered--being an American white male slaughtering hordes of African, and mostly black, zombies--I thought the game handled its content as well as it could. I mean the SETTING is AFRICA. But if the developers hadn't had hordes of black zombies, wouldn't everyone have complained that it was unrealistic? That being said, that doesn't mean that RE 5 needed to be set in Africa, it could've taken place in any number of other countries (though if you really think about it, the previous installments are Japanese-made games about Americans screwing up the entire world through viral warfare and destroying most of the life around them, yet no one--to my knowledg--has ever commented on this rather interesting fact).
One thing that might've helped is if it hadn't drawn on stereotypes as much as it did. While I've never been to Africa myself, I couldn't help but feel like this was the Africa of an American-made action flick and not one of a true to life representation (What? No real life in a video game?)
In all honesty, I don't really know what I'm trying to get at, but I guess I just didn't really see the inherent racism within the game. There were no vocalizations of the "N" word, or were there any outright derogatory comments based on ethnicity--unless you count the initial conversation between Chris and Sheva, saying that she is there to help "smooth things over" as Chris is white and she is black. Granted, one can take the implication that yes, it is an American, white male shooting black people in the face, but they are zombies. I would hope that if I ever became a zombie, some tactical force of another ethnicity wouldn't hesitate and debate about whether or not to shoot me in the face for fear of being labeled "racist"--especially if I was after their brain meats.
When you get down to it, it is a game. And if someone becomes racist after playing a game such as this, then, I have a feeling this is the type of person the world doesn't want to be playing violent things in the first place--especially if they are that easily influenced. Rather than leagues of gamers becoming a racist from playing games (though this would still be a very detrimental outcome), I'm still wondering what the effect of making violence so-freaking-cool will do to the future generations--and myself... but that is a musing for another time. Perhaps.
Until then, more Gibberish tomorrow.
I'm back to the grind, and really not wanting to be here. Over my extended weekend, I killed tons of zombies and watched a good chunk of films, and I want to just keep doing the same things. *sigh* Stupid responsibilities.
Resident Evil 5: My friend and I finished this game last night, and it was quite a good time. As I mentioned on Monday, it's not quite the same as its predecessors, but it is still an amusing game. However, the reason I bring this up again is because of it's controversy about being racist.
All things considered--being an American white male slaughtering hordes of African, and mostly black, zombies--I thought the game handled its content as well as it could. I mean the SETTING is AFRICA. But if the developers hadn't had hordes of black zombies, wouldn't everyone have complained that it was unrealistic? That being said, that doesn't mean that RE 5 needed to be set in Africa, it could've taken place in any number of other countries (though if you really think about it, the previous installments are Japanese-made games about Americans screwing up the entire world through viral warfare and destroying most of the life around them, yet no one--to my knowledg--has ever commented on this rather interesting fact).
One thing that might've helped is if it hadn't drawn on stereotypes as much as it did. While I've never been to Africa myself, I couldn't help but feel like this was the Africa of an American-made action flick and not one of a true to life representation (What? No real life in a video game?)
In all honesty, I don't really know what I'm trying to get at, but I guess I just didn't really see the inherent racism within the game. There were no vocalizations of the "N" word, or were there any outright derogatory comments based on ethnicity--unless you count the initial conversation between Chris and Sheva, saying that she is there to help "smooth things over" as Chris is white and she is black. Granted, one can take the implication that yes, it is an American, white male shooting black people in the face, but they are zombies. I would hope that if I ever became a zombie, some tactical force of another ethnicity wouldn't hesitate and debate about whether or not to shoot me in the face for fear of being labeled "racist"--especially if I was after their brain meats.
When you get down to it, it is a game. And if someone becomes racist after playing a game such as this, then, I have a feeling this is the type of person the world doesn't want to be playing violent things in the first place--especially if they are that easily influenced. Rather than leagues of gamers becoming a racist from playing games (though this would still be a very detrimental outcome), I'm still wondering what the effect of making violence so-freaking-cool will do to the future generations--and myself... but that is a musing for another time. Perhaps.
Until then, more Gibberish tomorrow.
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